I just lost some respect for Ed Schultz...

[Bonn1997]

I definitely admire how strongly he fights for the little people in general and is fighting for a public option. However, he can also be a "hot-head" who doesn't take any constructive criticisms or suggestions well. I thought a caller just made a great point when he said Ed should focus more on the conservative Democrats who are really the ones blocking true health care reform and less on the Republicans since we don't need the Republicans' support anyway. He added that Ed focuses in the "PsychoTalk" section on conservatives like Glenn Beck who we already know are psychos but it would be quite useful to include conservative dems in the segment and thus put some pressure on them when they say psycho things to explain their resistance to a public option. When I heard the caller say all this, I felt like, "Finally someone is voicing the frustration that I've been feeling for so long! I can't wait to hear what Ed says." But basically Ed just mocked the caller, obsessing over the caller's use of the word "disservice" (the caller said it was a disservice to focus only on the Republicans) and then telling the caller he'd "try to be more perfect just for you "
WHY IS ED AND WHY ARE ALL THE LIBERAL COMMENTATORS PROTECTING THE CONSERVATIVE DEMS, WHO ARE THE REAL PROBLEM?

[elleng]

1. Sounds like Ed's tired.

[monmouth]

2. Good post. Like to hear Ed's thoughts on Blanche Lincoln....n/t

[Pab Sungenis]

3. Ed's protecting them because he's a registered Republican.

The Blue Dog "Democrats" are also wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Republicans like him, just operating under a different name.

That's why I can't stand Ed.

[kjackson227]

7. How do you know he's a Republican?

[bertman]

9. I have heard Ed say many times that he USED to be a Republican but Wendy changed his

way of thinking, so he became a Democrat. Am I missing something here? Which of us is misinformed?

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. You are right, and Wendy did by taking him

to homeless shelters to feed the crowd

[RamboLiberal]

12. That's a bunch of bullcrap from you

People can't change? Ever? I saw Ed last week live for 2 hours at a town hall in Pittsburgh and if he's now a Republican then I'm changing my party registration. No one on the air has fought harder for health care & worker's rights.

So he didn't treat a caller well - so what. Geez Randi Rhodes does that much more to friendly callers than Ed.

[leftstreet]

4. The Pund-idiots are trying to revive a dead Repub party

Can't have anyone thinking we don't have two political parties

[Uncle Joe]

5. They're not liberal, they're not conservative, they're corporate and

protecting corporate interests including the ability to sell ads and commercials through the existing system; which allows profitteering from the American Peoples' illness and injury is the preeminent concern, the rest is window dressing.

[kjackson227]

6. I thought the caller said that Ed was doing a disservice for pushing...

the public option so fiercely. Maybe he feels that if he leans on the blue dogs too much it would work against us since we still have a chance to change their minds. Personally, I really, really like Ed, but he does go off when criticized a bit.

[gateley]

27. Agree -- i find it frustrating when he's yelling a question repeatedly over the

person trying to answer it, and always ends with 'well, I tried working with you...".

i agree with a previous poster who said no one has fought harder than Ed for getting good health care reform, but he, like Randi (like another previous poster mentioned) just seems to get his hackles up when someone offers criticism. It's his/our loss, I think. I really really like him too -- it's just in those circumstances that he makes me grind my teeth.

[alittlelark]

8. I listened to that - the caller said Ed was doing a disservice to the country.

He sounded like a freep w/ a strawman.

I listen to Ed off and on during the day and he does go after conservative dems, he even goes after Obama.

[Bonn1997]

19. I didn't hear the part "to the country"; I might have missed it. I thought he just said he's doing a

"disservice." Either way, I agree with the caller. I think all talk show hosts are doing the country a disservice when they don't point out that the biggest obstacle that might actually be changeable is the corporate Dems. Now, I think the caller could have found a more polite way to say it and could have focused on all liberal talk show hosts instead of just Ed. However, in general, I thought the caller was respectful and did not have a hostile tone--maybe a frustrated, disappointed tone but not an angry, hostile one. I think Thom Hartmann, the talk show host for whom I have the most respect, always handles things with more class.

[alittlelark]

31. Thom Hartman is in a class by himself. Ed gets riled up...

...and I hear him getting riled up by the 'blue dogs' QUITE often.

I listen to probably 1/3 of all his radio shows (in bits and pieces). He is in no way defending conservative (DINO) dems.

I think he has a good balance - but he does get 'riled up'.

[gateley]

28. Good point -- he has no qualms about going after Obama, and that takes

balls, opening himself up to criticism from those (me) who pretty much think Obama is almost (almost!) perfect. He helps me look at it from another vantage point, which is good.

[SidneyCarton]

10. Republicans look for converts, Democrats look for Heretics.

Congratulations master inquisitor, you've just "unmasked" another heretic. REPENT OR BURN!

[bertman]

11. Ed can be a hothead--the fat redhead, as he calls himself--but he is mostly on target.

I've heard him go after virtually everybody who espouses ideas he does not agree with, including some of his favorites who appear on his show like Byron Dorgan.

All in all, Ed is a huge plus for the left wing of American politics. I'll forgive him the occasional momentary lapse.

[madrchsod]

13. he rips equally on the democrats and the republicans.

ed does`t care who they are. if he thinks someone is wrong he lets them know.

[Warpy]

14. Conservatives always want everybody to march in lock step

and that applies to conservative Democrats as much as it does to the party that invented the lock step march. It never seems to occur to them that marching in lock step with liberal Democrats might do them more good, though.

They're all upset because we're complaining that conservaDems are betraying the core values of the party, which they are.

It shows party disloyalty, disunity and whatever dis they can come up with.

Just consider the source and keep fighting conservatism, wherever we find it.

[damntexdem]

15. Amazing: you had some respect to lose?

Ed may be good on some issue, but I don't trust him, don't like him, and am not surprised that he won't criticize the blue dogs.

[Berry Cool]

16. ALL the liberal commentators are protecting the conservative Dems?

Have you seen and heard this, by any chance??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbWw23XwO5o

Edited to add: Keep watching and listening to the end. KO starts with the Republicans, but he doesn't stop there.

[Bonn1997]

21. I should have said "most" rather than "all"

[Nederland]

17. He should learn from Rush

It is true that Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot. That being said, I think he grasps something about the talk show medium that many left leaning hosts don't: you gain nothing by insulting callers that basically agree with you. I'm not sure how many times I've heard hosts like Randi Rhodes and Ed Schultz insult people on the air over minor differences of opinion. Sure, Rush will lay into a Democrat who calls into his show, but I've never heard him ridicule someone that shares his basic ideology. He is always patient and polite, even when the person on the other end is a complete idiot.

[kctim]

18. Should be obvious

"WHY IS ED AND WHY ARE ALL THE LIBERAL COMMENTATORS PROTECTING THE CONSERVATIVE DEMS, WHO ARE THE REAL PROBLEM?"

Respecting, not protecting. Why? Can't win elections without them.
Ed's a smart guy.

[Bonn1997]

20. I'm not sure your premise is true, but is it Ed's job to protect corporate Democrats anyway?

Is he a Democratic talk show host or a liberal talk show host?

[kctim]

23. I think he is trying to speak to Democrats and liberals

because he knows it is in the best interest of the party to respect BOTH sides.

[butterfly77]

24. And that is why we need someone to run against them.

[kctim]

34. Sure

but more importantly, it is why you should respect the outcome when the progressive candidate loses. If our moderate votes weren't important, President Obama would have ran as the politician he was, not the centrist he became in order to win.

[Sebastian Doyle]

22. Not ALL Liberal Commentators are protecting fake "Democrats"

Ed was originally a Republican. After that he pushed the DLC party line for years. He certainly has moved in a more populist direction the last couple of years, and that's a good thing. I wouldn't call him a Liberal just yet, but he's improving.

But Thom Hartmann and Mike Malloy have been on the correct side all along. They have never been afraid to call out the DLC traitors or blue balled cowards.

[omega minimo]

26. He's always been like that, done that and it's because he's not progressive or liberal at all.

He's one of the conservative "democrats."

[redqueen]

29. That's odd. Whenever I've watched his show on MSNBC he's always going after the Blue Cross Dems,

as he calls them.

Perception matters.

[Cetacea]

30. Too bad you missed his rant on MSNBC tonight. Great stuff!

He has been hanging on and pushing the Public OPtion for months now, day in and day out.
I never liked him on the radio but his TV show is quite good.

[brightertomorrow]

32. I agree he was great on msnbc tonight

I have never heard him on radio but always try and watch his show on MSNBC if I can.
I love his passion for the public option and for health care reform. I wish there were more like him.

[madeline_con]

33. Ed likes his "PsychoTalk" segment, and defends a "need" for it. n/t